Daily comments on advantages of Iran-Turkey proximity

Tehran, Dec 16, IRNA - An English-language paper on Tuesday assessing the advantages of Iran-Turkey proximity, said that both nations are big powers that profoundly influence regional developments. Although major major divergent stances between Tehran and Ankara over regional developments exist, Turkey spares no efforts to take advantage of Iran’s economic potentials, added Tuesday's edition of 'Iran Daily'. Ankara has devised comprehensive plans to benefit from Iran’s energy market while seeking to profit from the energy markets of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region as well as Syria. The country is also eying to establish a pipeline to transfer energy from Qatar to Europe, noted the paper in its Opinion column (pg 3). Since one-third of Turkish economy and industries is dependent on Iran’s energy, Ankara has to maintain standards in bilateral relations. Nonetheless, the enforcement of UN resolutions that ban support for terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq will drive Turkey to shun terrorists and take more prudent policies. Tehran will dust off the welcome mat for Turkey if it follows prudence in its foreign policy apparatus, wrote the paper. The trip of President Hassan Rouhani to Turkey in June was in line with such an approach. The visit of the Turkish foreign minister to Iran is also expected to help Turkey rectify its policies adopted over crisis in Syria and Iraq. Elucidating further on the issue, the paper noted that Turkey has been seeking to improve its political and security ties with regional states for decades, but developments in the Middle East have caused major crises both for the Eurasian state and its neighbors. Despite Ankara’s policy of détente and rapprochement in the past, it has provided a patronage for outrageous crimes committed against Syrian people. The Eurasian country is facing a number of obstacles in the way of rectifying its political ties with regional countries. Turkey remains in a stalemate over joining the European Union because of certain issues. Likewise, it is grappling with protests in southern borders with Syria and Lebanon. Moreover, Ankara is struggling to settle domestic problems, including the recent arguments between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, it said. Nonetheless, Ankara is doing its utmost to become an economic hub, concluded the paper./end